Growing Baby - 20 weeks!!!

Baby continues to grow.  Since the legs are more proportional to the rest of the body, measurements are now made from head to foot (instead of head to rump). 

At 20 weeks, baby should measure about 10 inches!!!  Hold up a tape measure to get an idea - baby is definitely getting big!  Being 20 weeks means I'm halfway there!  So it makes sense that baby measures about half the length it will grow to be at birth!

As far as Adam mentioning he could feel the baby is still up for debate.  We were watching a movie last night and I could definitely feel movement - and it was much stronger than it has ever been.  Adam came over to feel it.  Not sure if it was just my pulse or something else, but he says he felt "something". 

Help Support Donna - No Chocolate for a month!

In support of our friend, Donna Peters, who has now been fighting cancer for a year now, friends have created a group to not eat chocolate for a month!  Let me explain.

Donna is unable to eat food for the next month or so and in support of her throughout, a Facebook group has been created to not eat her favorite food during the month - chocolate.

FB Group Description:
Out friend Donna Peters has been fighting ovarian cancer for a year now.  She has met every challenge with courage, determination and grace.  Her attitude and strength are amazing.  Due to her illness, she is unable to eat any solid food for about a month.  As a show of support and love for Donna, we are not going to eat her favorite food, chocolate, until she is able to do so.  Please join us in supporting our dear friend in her fight.

So really....giving up chocolate for a few weeks to show our support?  There are harder fights that are being fought.

Join:  I will not each chocolate until Donna can eat it!

Oh, so sweet....

So I'm learning that when you are pregnant, people can be so nice to you, especially when it comes to food!

At Kim and TJ's wedding reception, Saturday night, after an amazing meal and a great piece of cake.....I was sad to see they were removing ALL the desserts from the room!  Tray after tray of desserts being carried out right past my table.  I must have been making a 'what-the-heck-are-you-guys-doing' face because one hilarious woman stopped and said "What do you want!"  I simply and honestly replied "Sugar!" 

She was going to see what she could do.  See what she could do?  She was carrying 25 pounds of dessert on a tray....that's what she could do!  She came back with three dessert choices for me and left them all for me to enjoy!  I helped myself to the strawberry shortcake and shared the rest!

Pregancy has its perks!

And seriously - taking away the desserts?!  You wouldn't see them closing the bar at 8:00pm....why remove the sweets!?

Congrats TJ and Kim!

Saturday, June 26, 2010!  Congrats to TJ and Kim! 

Wedding #6 of the year down!

Great day with family and friends!

Newlyweds!

Adam being a baby hog with baby Mason

Dancin' fools! 

The happy couple!

Father and daughter dance

Sisters!

Me and the hubby and baby to be!

Triathlon #2

Congrats again to Adam and Jimmy - who have now completed their second triathlon sprint of the summer!  They clobbered their previous triathlon times and each finished in a total of about about an hour and a half!

Since I'm the 'Adam and Jimmy triathlon photographer', I woke up at the crack of dawn to be there to cheer on the boys and take the pictures - that's love right there!

I still can't wait until I can fully train and hopefully compete in one myself!!

Way to go, boys!!!

Pre-race pose

Adam in the first leg - swimming

Jimmy heading to transition area for bike

Jimmy transitioning to bike

Adam transitioning to bike

Jimmy finished with the bike, next on to the run

Adam (back) coming in from bike

Adam finishing the run strong!

Jimmy (front) and Adam approaching finish

Post-race and still smiling

<3 him!

Is that baby?

So, I am still feeling those "twitches" and I'm about positive what I'm feeling is baby bouncing and moving around in there.  The 'feeling' is definitely isolated to below my belly button and in the right general area, but I can't completely figure it out yet.  I just hit the 19 week mark this week and it's about the right time to be feeling baby but I'm hesitant to get too excited and then wind up finding it's nothing but gas or digestion or that it's actually just what it feels like - twitches of some sort. 

Can anyone help to describe in better detail what I will be feeling when I feel the baby move?  I keep hearing people describe early movement as a 'flutter' like a butterfly's wings brushing up against you.  This is a little more distinct than that though.  I can maybe see the 'popcorn popping' example a little better.  Is this actually baby??

More Changes

So over the last few months, I've been experiencing an ever-changing body - which is to be expected.  First, I was hit with morning sickness and the first trimester fatigue - both came and went.  I've already had my share of heartburn, that I can only expect will get worse.  I haven't been struck with many cravings so far, just the normal fatty-bo-batty kind that I've always had.  My belly (and let's face it, my ass) has been growing.  My complexion has gone from pre-pregnancy bad to even worse.  I've put on a few extra pounds than I should at this point.  However, this week I'm being faced with another change - an increasing appetite.

During the first trimester, morning sickness was nothing like I expected.  I had no relief hanging my head over the toilet - only nausea and dry heaving - how lovely, right?  All of this from morning until bedtime. Everything smelled horrible!  I could barely stand to walk into the kitchen from the garage without turning green.  I remember some days I would spend the evening in the bedroom to avoid smelling any food, previously cooked meals or garbage that might be lingering around the fridge or kitchen.  As much as I knew I needed to, the thought of eating fruits or veggies also made me queasy.  I ate a lot of junk.  And to stop myself from feeling even worse, I would eat about every hour to settle my stomach.

I was so happy when the second trimester began and morning sickness wore off and I could eat regular food again!  I was able to go from snacking constantly to eating my normal meals.  Until this week....

While not changing the types of food I eat, I can no longer make it to lunch without a snack without my stomach starting to digest itself.  I am needing a snack in the afternoon too - no chance of making it to dinner.  What's up?  I've been trying to watch what I eat over the last week since I know I had been gaining a little too much, but this is not making it easy.  Understanding that the baby is only about nine inches long, I can hardly consider that I'm "eating for two."  Is this normal at only about 20 weeks?!

Belly Laughs

Amazon.com can be a little dangerous!  They have a "Buy Now with 1 Click" button.  No logging in, no entering shipping address, no inputting payment information.  You literally click and you bought it from previously entered information.  It's too convenient of a button NOT to push it!!

I have used said button several times.  It's a wonderful feature and it can get me in trouble!! HA!

On Tuesday, I used the button to purchase Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy.  I had heard about this book when I was in college and remember skimming thru it (completely un-pregnant) at the time and finding it hilarious.  I haven't been reading as much as I would have liked this year, so I figured this would be a fun read to get me going again.  Well, one click, next day delivery and a few hours later - FINISHED!

If you are looking for a very informative book regarding pregnancy, this is not the book for you.  If you are uncomfortable by the very discussion or thought about female bodily functions, this is definitely not the book for you.  If you want to laugh until you have tears in your eyes regarding the 'interesting' and perhaps not-so-fun aspects of pregnancy, please read!  Jenny McCarthy is, for lack of a better word, a hoot!  She tells it like it is about the "other" side of pregnancy. 

Discussion includes her experience with the side effects of pregnancy - morning sickness, gas, constipation, growth of about every part of your body, even sex during pregnancy.  As someone who is about half-way thru her pregnancy, I was very entertained by it all!  It's a super easy read (obviously, since a non-reader finished it in a matter of one evening).

Amazon....you did it again.  Too convenient to be true.....

Anticipation....

So.....we continue to wait......

I'm currently 19 weeks along and we still have another three weeks to go until the sonogram!  Depending on your method of counting, we have another 21 days until we get to meet baby again!  That feels like a lifetime away!

Understandably, the main purpose of this anatomy sonogram is to ensure baby is developing properly - body, heart, brain, spine, organs and so on.  However, it is hard not to focus on one, specific portion of this ultrasound - the baby's gender!  So 19 days until we discover if we will be welcoming home a daughter or a son - assuming baby is cooperating with legs uncrossed to reveal all!  That's another 19 days of anticipation that my hubby and I will be able to savor the simple fact that we are expecting our first baby - regardless of it being a boy or girl!

It's still killing me to have to wait 19 days still!!!!

Scrapbooking Catch-Up

So previously, I had talked about some of the things I want to get done before baby joins us.  One of these things was catching up on my scrapbooking!  I am so far behind and past events and holidays are becoming a little fuzzy so I think it's only necessary.  Plus, if I'm caught up, then I'll be able to focus on scrapbooking baby!

So Saturday, Sunday and this evening have been devoted to none other....scrapbook catch-up!!

I'm embarrassed to even mention that I'm finally only about two years behind instead of more like two and a half years behind.  I'm also the pathetic kind of scrapper that walks into the scrapbooking store and finds paper and stickers and goodies to scrapbook with and gets excited at the possibility to being able to scrap using them (even if that means having to take pictures or doing something fun to be able to use said paper/stickers/goodies.... so sad, I'm aware).  So I can't wait to catch up to 2009 and scrapbook all the fun wedding festivities!!!!  Until then, I'll keep on truckin'......

Please, excuse the mess.....

I'm up to Fripp Island, family vacation, from June 2008 - how sad!

Magical

Nothing to write at the moment....except that I kinda love this man!

Craving

I'm not sure if this really counts as a pregnancy craving, however, it did qualify as a I'm-not-actually-listening-to-you-talk-because-all-I-can-think-about-is-eating-this-one-particular-thing kind of craving.

Friday night, Adam and I had dinner with a group of friends at Granite City.  Anyone that knows me, probably knows that I'd rather focus on the salad and an appetizer instead of the actual entree.  In usual fashion, Adam and I ordered an appetizer - spinach and artichoke dip.  I could have skipped my meal and only eaten that.  I haven't been able to concentrate on anything or enjoy any other foods since I ate that.  I....needed.....more.....

The opportunity presented itself tonight - I ordered carry out from Granite City:  Southwestern Chicken Salad and of course, Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

Delicious.....I can now begin to enjoy other foods and have a conversation with someone without imagining their head is a bowl of dip......

I beg of you....PLEASE....don't judge me.  HA!

See how the dip is being sneaky and peaking thru the bread....oh, it's down there.....

Scary Weather!

For anyone that has known me for even five minutes, most likely knows I have two big fears - spiders and STORMS!!!

This time of the year is always a little scary and lately we have been having horrible storms!!  So when I was awoken from a dead sleep around 5:00am this morning to tornado sirens, I jumped right out of bed to go to the window.  I was confused, it looked like the sun was starting to rise in a pretty red/orange sky.  Hardly any clouds.  I grabbed Adam and we decided to go down the basement.  We looked out the front windows of the house - OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  Now I understood where the sirens were coming from. 

No, that is not a UFO, just the light reflection.....and a scary sky!

Daddy protecting our baby, Tressel....or is it the other way around?

Decisions, Decisions - Diaper Discussion

So on our quest to be a little 'greener', Adam and I have been doing some things around the house to start us on the mission - we are recycling (and not buying plastic water bottles), we have started composting, Adam is planning to set up our new rain barrel this week and has also started a garden with some basic veggies.  We are, by no means, going above and beyond....baby steps, I think.

So, one of the big questions we are faced when looking ahead at bringing our first baby into our lives is this - disposable or reusable?

Yes, I'm referring to diapers.  I had always just had it in my head that I would be using disposable diapers on a baby.  Easy, convenient, easily accessible...enough said, right?  If you do even five minutes of research online, you can find so many "bad" things regarding disposable diapers.  Not only the thousands of tons of plastic and hundreds of thousands of trees that are necessary just to produce the diapers in the US alone each year, but the toxic chemicals used to manufacture them and the effects on our landfills by having roughly 18 billion diapers added each year, in JUST the US!  That's 18 billion plastic/paper garbage filled with human waste - possibly going straight back into the ground water supply.

Rethinking reusables, yet?

With another five minutes of online research, you can see some very positive aspects of reusable diapers.  OMG...ADORABLE!  You can buy adorable patterns and about every color you can imagine.  Also, they are absolutely cheaper than disposables - many brands have adjustable features on the diapers, so you can use the same diapers throughout the baby's life until potty training time.  Even with the cost of extra loads of laundry, water to clean and detergent, you are still going to be saving hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of dollars per baby (and possibly more if you plan on using them for more than one kid).  This does require a somewhat large investment up front, but then you're just about done buying diapers!  Then there's the environmental motivation for using reusable.  Seems like a good amount of pros, right

I don't know anyone close to me that has used reusable diapers, so I'm going at this somewhat blind.  I do have two main concerns: 
1)  Convenience - if we are out and about and the baby needs a diaper change, do I really want to bundle up a dirty liner and carry it around until we get home to wash it?
2)  Laundry - do I really want to be washing those dirty liners in the washer where we do the rest of our laundry?  We don't have a sink/tub to rinse things in the laundry room so how is this accomplished?

I know anyone that has in their mind the "old cloth diapers" would be screaming 'NO!' at this point.  But the varieties of reusables that are available are nothing like those flat cloth diapers that you had to fold just right and pin together with a safety pin.  If you know someone that has used reusables, I'd love to hear about it!!  Until then, I guess we will continue to research and try to make the best decision for us!

Interested in reading up on reusable?  Check out this article:  Why Use Cloth Diapers?

Example of today's reusable - Bum Genius brand

How cute are these?  Another example - Thirsties brand

Growing Belly

So for the baby only being the size of a large baked potato and my uterus being the size of a large cantaloupe.....the only explanation for the rest is fluid and fatty-bo-batty filling (or maybe there are 6 baked potatoes in there....).  HA!

NOTICE:  (this is mostly for my mom and sister that will understand)  You can totally still see my collar bone....I"m just saying......

Cuddles!

The best, cuddly dog ever......my baby, Tressel.....

Growing baby

As of yesterday, our baby is supposed to be roughly 5.5 inches from head to rump - about the size of a large baking potato (or large bell pepper).  The baby weighs about 7 ounces.

During week 19, the baby will grow to about 6 inches (head to rump) - or about the size of a slice of watermelon or large heirloom tomato.

The mid-wife I saw Tuesday stated that the baby was going to have a "growth explosion" over the next few weeks. 

For example, by about the 4th of July - only about 2 weeks away, the baby will be about 10.5 inches long (from head to heel) - the size of a carrot!!  And weight about 3/4 lb!!!

Grow, baby, grow!!!!!!

OJ Theory Tested

OK - so yesterday I read that if you drink OJ, it helps to get the baby moving if you are trying to feel it.

So, curiosity got the best of me and I picked up some orange juice on the way home from work yesterday.  I drank an entire glass and then went to lay down.

I waited a few minutes and figured the only thing I was going to get was some heartburn and some extra calcium.  But then....that same twitch again!  It was a little more in the center, lower part of my belly this time.  Another few seconds of feeling this, like yesterday morning. 

I can't say whether it was the orange juice or the fact that I was concentrating on feeling something - but I felt "something"!  I'm still not entirely sure if what I'm feeling is the baby - but it's not gas or digestion or something I'm used to feeling.  Could it be baby saying hello?!  I can't wait to feel it again!!!

Doggie Disneyland

So, in roughly four and a half months, we will have a little baby to hold in our arms and to love.

In the meantime, we already have a baby - his name is Tressel.

Tressel is at least an 80 pound baby to us and he likes to play with toys, eat socks and anything that shouldn't even be possible to digest and cuddle in the smallest spaces ever (aka small couch, small chair, edge of the bed). The best part of his life is when mommy and daddy take him to the dog park - or what I like to call Doggie Disneyland. All the dogs you could ever wanna play with - even though Tressel is much more interested in the owners of said dogs. How can you resist this little (or big) guy???




After getting back from the dog park - mommy finally gets some quiet time, because our baby is worn out....

Baby Moving?

So I know that you can start to feel your baby from around 16 - 22 weeks.  Sometimes later, rather than sooner, for first time moms that just aren't sure what they are feeling.  I am exactly 18 weeks today.....

...and I think I felt baby today!!!!!!!

I know that there's lots of "stuff" going on in my body right now so I can't be sure, but it was something "different"!

I just finished drinking my instant breakfast and eating some sliced pineapple while I was in a meeting this morning.  Then it happened - I felt a little twitch or 'flutter' in the lower right side of my belly.  It was almost like a mild muscle twitch, but inside.  I only felt it for a few seconds and haven't felt it again since. 

Was it baby??  I hope to feel it again soon to be sure!  What an exciting feeling!

In my day-by-day pregnancy book, I read this little hint today (how appropriate!):

"This is an exciting week for Pregnancy Land-ers.  During their first pregnancies, many women feel their babies move for the first time right about now.  If you haven't felt anything yet, drink a glass of cold orange juice - both the coldness and the sugar are known to get babies kicking - and lie down.  Give your heart a chance to slow down.  Breathe deeply and relax.  Feel any butterflies?  How about gas bubbles?  You may not be nervous or gaseous - that fluttering and bubbling could be your baby on the move!"

I'm thinking I'm going to stop at the grocery on the way home for a little OJ!!!

4 Weeks is a Lifetime Away!

Doctor appointment yesterday - pretty routine.  Found the baby's heartbeat again....[sigh of relief].....160 beats per minute.

Although the only sign of life inside me has been my expanding belly, it's such a great feeling to hear the heartbeat again!

Anatomy sonogram scheduled for 4 weeks from now - July 15th.  4 weeks?!?!  That's forever away! 

That's 4 more weeks until we can see our baby again.  Another 4 weeks to wait to make sure that the baby is healthy and developing properly.  A long 4 weeks to find out if our "large baking potato" (that's the size the baby is this week - not as cute sounding as a blueberry or peanut) is a boy or a girl!

Countdown - 28 days away......

Blog Clarification

I heard about the funniest thing ever this evening. 

I never gave it a second thought that the URL for my blog needed any explanation.  I was apparently....wrong.

http://stephanieandadambaby.blogspot.com

Makes sense, right?  My name is Stephanie.  My husband's name is Adam.  We are having a baby.  Enough said, right?

However....I didn't take into consideration the possibility of reading it as such:

"Stephanie and a dam[n] baby."  (with a slight misspelling of the word damn)

Carol, I'm not sure if you read my blog - but I found it quite hilarious and entertaining.  Her response to my mom:  "I thought she was excited about the baby."  Instead of cursing it.....Hilarious!!

Morning Belly - 6/12/10

Sick of seeing my belly yet?  It's only going to get bigger and bigger and bigger....oh heavens.

Still waiting to feel the first kicks!!! 

Doctor appointment on Tuesday to hear the heartbeat again...and then the NEXT doctor appointment will be the sonogram!!  So about 20 or 21 weeks, we will be able to see if the baby is growing and healthy and if we are going to be having a son or a daughter!! 

So sweet....

So I've recently listed some of the positive things of being pregnant.  Saturday night, I definitely figured out the best part, by far!!

Saturday night, while hanging out with friends and family, while everyone was playing drinking games (beer pong and flippy cup)...[sigh]....I was just hanging out and being entertained by the drunkenness that was evolving right before my very, sober eyes.  Inside the teenage boys played and watched movies. 

Patrick (my brother-in-law) went inside to grab a beer.  These teenage boys were making ice cream sundaes. 

Teenage boys:  "We're making this for the pregnant girl!"

Yes.....what's better than beer?  An ice cream sundae covered in all the magicalness that can possibly fit into one bowl - hot fudge, whipped cream, M&Ms, nuts, chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles.  Yes, please!!  I enjoyed every bite and thanked the boys for my the yummy goodness!

Definitely not all bad AT ALL!

Take me out to the ballgame....

Last night was a great night to be outside and to enjoy a baseball game.  Annie, Connor, Adam and I went to the Peoria Chiefs minor league baseball game!!  It was free hot dog and peanut night - seriously, who could resist that??!!  Sat in seats in the shade, enjoyed a hot dog, enjoyed the great weather and didn't get killed by any foul balls - SUCCESS!  Now, if it was only the weekend already......

It's not ALL bad (additions)

Recently, I posted about some of the positive things of pregnancy.  My cousin, Meredith, gave some great additions and they were too good to not include!

Meredith wants us not to forget about these:

1. You don't have a period!!!!!  (pretty damn important)    [my note:  how could I have forgotten about this!!  Duh!!!]
2. People will let you cut in line in the bathroom once you're huge because they remember the feeling of your bladder about to explode even though you just peed 10 minutes ago.   [my note:  ok, here's one with a pro and a con - con:  you have to pee all the time....urgently.  pro:  aren't people nice!]
3. People hold doors open for you because you're showing and doors are far too heavy for preggo people.  [my note:  bring on the door opening!  I will milk this puppy dry!]
4. People don't look at you funny when you're huge and inhaling all your food when you go out to eat.  [my note:  I'm totally used to people staring at me when I eat, so this will be a pleasant change]
5. The most amazing feeling in the world is when you feel your baby kick for the first tie....it'll bring tears to your eyes.  [my note:  I am literally holding my breath waiting to feel this.  I know it should happen soon.  I lay in bed at note, concentrating to see if I feel any little flutter or 'bubble'!  Can't wait!!!]
6. The best part:  in a mere 40 weeks, you will have horrible pain and push out something the size of a watermelon out a hole the size of a grape (pretty) and you will look at the most beautiful thing in the world....and it will all be forgotten.  You will love something more than you ever have in your entire life.  The last 40 weeks will mean nothing....you have something that is medically half of you, but will be all yours forever.  It will make you cry because there will be no other feeling in the world!!  [my note:  .....the reason I want to be a mom - to feel that type of love!]

Meredith also adds:
"I'm so glad you get to go through this...Being a mother is the best job, and I know you'll be great at it!!!  You will look down at that wet, bloody, blob and know the true meaning of love.  I know I"m doing a poor job of describing it....but soon enough you'll know exactly what I mean!!!"

I'm looking forward to that experience so much!!!  And anyone reading will be sick of me talking about it until I have my own little blob to blog about!!

Meredith's "wet, bloody blob" is Mason!!!  He is three and is about the cutest kid in the world.....

Thanks pregnancy book...NOT!

My mother-in-law gave me a daily pregnancy countdown book for Mother's Day.  It's adorable and has tons of funny truths, tips and advice about being pregnant.  One of today's entries (161 days until due date):

"If you could, do you think you would see pregnant women with big butts every again?  It's hard not to get big all over when you're growing another person.  Try not to obsess if your butt gets big.  What goes up does come down (in time)"

I don't know about you, but I feel so much better about being a fatty-bo-batty....NOT!  Haha.

It's not ALL bad.....

So I've talked to a few of my girl friends about being pregnant and some of the responses I have heard:

"OH!  I don't think I'll like being pregnant!"
"Eww...no thanks!"
"Eeek, maybe I don't want to get pregnant."

But seriously, how can it be a bad thing.  Yes, for the first trimester, you think you might feel better jumping off a bridge and being knocked unconscious for a few weeks rather than having to sit at your desk at work while trying not to throw up on anyone that comes to talk to you.  And no, I can't drink alcohol or caffeine, eat sushi or ride roller coasters, but does that really mess with my lifestyle?  Don't think so. 

Just think of all the advantages of being pregnant!!!  I'm only starting to realize the half of it!

1. You don't have to be on a diet anymore!  (still watch what you eat, but you don't have to eat cardboard or be on a cabbage soup diet to drop those last few pounds)
2. Your boobs get ginormous without trying
3. You can take a nap just about any day you want and people will let you because...ya know...you're pregnant!
4. The clothes are amazingly comfortable! (like straight up magical.....)
5. Your nails become super strong and wonderful!
6. If you (or eh-hem, your husband) don't wanna go somewhere, if you don't go, it's not rude....because you're pregnant.
7. Excuse to buy new clothes
8. People offer you their seat on the bus ....OK, so I don't actually ride the bus, but I'm sure if you stick your prego belly out while on a bus, someone would give you their seat, right?
9. You get to show off your curves and 'bump'!
10. You are growing your baby!!!!!!!!!!

So many good reasons to be happy to be pregnant.  I am feeling great and more confident now that I have a bump and you can actually tell there is a baby inside my belly (instead of just a double cheeseburger and two bowls of ice cream in there).  I am so excited to be able to have the next sonogram (in about 4 more weeks) to meet baby again!

DISCLAIMER:  Yes, I am happy right now in pregnancy.  I'm not uncomfortable, I'm sleeping well, I have energy.  I STILL reserve the right to complain later when I can barely walk and no position is comfortable, when my back hurts, my feet hurt, I have heartburn so bad I can't hardly breathe, when the thought of tying my shoes seems like a pastime I will never enjoy again and I am praying for the baby to be born already.  I'm just saying....I'm allowed....

Whoa Belly!

Belly is growing!!  (perhaps a little earlier than what most people expect!)  I'm currently at 16 weeks and 5 days.

All the books, articles, magazines, online posts, anything....seems to say that women having their first child usually don't start showing until about 5 or 6 months.......

Well, thanks to my mother for my terrific genes, I'm a belly over-achiever.....These pictures are at 16 weeks and 5 days.

The baby is about 5 inches now - from the tip of your thumb to the end of your hand (if that makes sense...).

I still have some sort of a recognizable waist....

There's a baby growing in there!!!

Also, please note...although my chest looks awfully small in these pictures, I assure you, it has grown like I couldn't have imagined!!  I know your chest is supposed to grow during pregnancy, but I guess I had it in my mind that it happens late in the 3rd trimester....WRONG!  In my 1st trimester, I went up over a cup size! 

You're welcome for the TMI....hehe.

Quote Page

[Today I'm wearing my black maternity pants and a pink, collared maternity shirt my mom sent me.  It has a string tied in the back and it's super cute and comfy!!]

Stephanie:  Good morning!
Bryson:  Are you planning to do some art today?
Stephanie:  [gives totally confused look]
Bryson:  I mean, it's a good thing you wore your smock today, if you were planning to do some painting later.
Stephanie:  OMG, that's so mean!!
Bryson:  Well, at least you'll be prepared if some flash finger painting breaks out.....

NOTE:  For those that don't know what my "Quote Page" is - I have been keeping a list of funny things people say for about 4 years now.  As of today, there are 187 quotes, on 40 pages, with 50 different people saying the funny things.  It's a hilarious read even if you don't know most of the people!

Also, I'm thinking I need to post a picture of my growing belly soon - something happened in the last week and I don't know what happened, but my belly has gotten so big!!!  Will hopefully post tonight!

Stef and Brandon Tie the Knot!!!!

Beautiful, sunny, HOT day in San Antonio for a wedding!  Ladies got ready at hotel, headed to salon, got dressed and it was off to the church!!  Perfect ceremony followed by a beautiful reception!!  Congrats to Brandon and Stefanie Acosta!!!

Bride getting beautified!!!!!

Getting ready!

Just Married!!!

Adam hitting on one of the bridesmaids.....oh wait....

First dance!!

If you didn't realize the Macarena was making a comeback....

A lady in the street.....